There's Beauty in the Breakdown
by Sonata Rapp
Summary: Roger's life has been turned upside down with all the drama his daughters bring. Suddenly not only is his youngest daughter fighting for her life, but Roger's younger brother appears with a young woman. Will she be just what Roger needs in this chaos?
1. Chapter 1

A/N: Yeah I'm back with another story. I know that it's been a while for all of you faithful readers since I've updated but I have an excuse. I JUST STARTED COLLEGE! Well about three weeks ago, but still. Anyway here's a new one.

**There's Beauty in the Breakdown**

_**Summary: It's September 11 and though they aren't hurt, the tragedy affects all the bohos, especially Roger. When their mother is killed in the attack, it's up to the rocker to take over raising two girls who turn out to be his**_.

Chapter 1

It was about five in the afternoon on September 11, 2001. The loft's small television had been tuned to the local news channel all day. There had been at least three people glued in place watching it all day. Now most of them were too emotionally spent to watch anymore. Mark had gone to the store to buy food with Maureen leaving Angel, Collins, and Joanne in the loft. Collins was on the fire escape, smoking a joint while Joanne napped on the couch. Angel was crying in the corner. The only time she had shed more tears was when Mimi had passed away a year before. No one knew where Roger was. He had stormed out of the loft in a huff right after the first plane hit.

They all found it hard to believe. The Twin Towers were gone, and along with them went so many lives. It was truly baffling to the minds of our favorite bohemians. Even Maureen was subdued. At a quarter past, Collins re-entered the loft and turned the television off. He went over to Angel and wrapped her in his strong brown arms. The drag queen wept on his shoulder.

"All those poor people." She sobbed.

"I know, Ang. I know." Collins soothed, rubbing her back. He held her and let her cry until she fell asleep against him. A few seconds after which, the loft's front door slid open. The professor looked up to see Roger coming in flanked by two blond girls, one as tall as the musician, the other barely reaching his knees. Collins cocked an eyebrow at him. "What the fuck?" he mouthed.

Roger held up a hand. "Mark?" he whispered.

"He went to the store with Mo."

"No we're back." Mark commented from behind Roger. "What's going on?"

Roger eyed Angel and Joanne who were sleeping peacefully. "Let's go in the hallway." He suggested. "I don't want to wake them up."

They all trooped out and walked a little ways down the hall. Mark looked with interest at the two girls. It was a mark of Maureen's tiredness that she hadn't noticed them yet.

"Oh my God Roger, is this them?" Mark asked when they were far enough down the hall.

"Yep, this is them." The rocker replied.

"Who is them?" Collins demanded. "Am I the only one who has no idea what is going on? Who are these girls Rog?"

"Collins, Maureen, these are my daughters."

That perked the diva right up. "Holy fuck, since when do you have daughters?"

"Uh since…how old are you Danni?" Roger mused.

"Sixteen, Dad." The tall blond girl answered.

"Since sixteen years ago then." Roger deduced. "One is April's and mine and the other is the result of a crazy night I had with April's sister Elizabeth." At the sound of her mother's name the little girl let out a sob and Roger bent down and scooped her up. "I know Liz. I'm going to miss her too." He turned to his friends. "Elizabeth worked at the Trade Center and she didn't make it."

"I'm confused." Collins admitted.

Roger sighed. "Then let's go back in. I only want to explain this once."

He led them back in, still holding his little girl, with the other one close in his heels. Collins woke up Joanne and Angel and quickly filled them in. Soon everyone was attentive and ready to listen to what Roger had to say. He sat down in the chair by the couch still being flanked by the girls.

"Alright, pay attention. About a month after I met April, she got pregnant, and yeah it was mine. No one knew because you al thought that she was away finishing a year of college then. Really she was with her mother and sister getting ready to have her kid. When the baby was born, April gave her to Elizabeth. Then when April…died, Elizabeth kept the kid and I went to see her periodically. Usually after a visit to the doctor so no one would think anything was up. Ten years later I got really trashed with Elizabeth and we ended up making a kid that night."

"So your daughters are sisters and cousins at the same time? That's fucking creepy Roger. Only you could make something that incestual happen." Maureen interjected.

"That's not incest Honeybear. Let him finish." Joanne hushed.

"Mark knew that I had daughters and he knew who they were by, but I never let him meet them. And I didn't tell the rest of you guys, or…Mimi because I wasn't expecting to to have to actually raise them. But Elizabeth died today in the attack, so they've got no one else. Since they are legally half mine, I guess it's my responsibility now."

"The poor girls." Angel cooed. "So they're staying here now?"

Roger nodded. "They'll be sharing Collins's old room." He sighed tiredly. "I guess we should do introductions now." he brought the older girl forward first. She has long straight blond hair and deep emerald eyes. She was about as tall as her father, but had April's build rather than Roger's brawn. "This is Danielle Aprillis Ericsson. She's sixteen. And this," he continued, bouncing the younger girl on his knee. "Is Lizette July Ericsson. She's six." The girl still had tears coursing down her face. She had curlier hair than her sister and her eyes were more aqua than green. "Girls I'd like you to meet my friends."

Mark smiled genuinely at them. He was so proud of Roger for stepping up and handling his responsibilities. "Hi, I'm Mark Cohen. I live here with Roger and I guess we'll be getting to know each other better really soon." He said.

"Mark is my best friend you guys, so be nice to him. He's also your godfather Danni. But we'll talk about that later." Roger interjected.

Collins went next. "You can just call me Collins." He told them. "Me and your dad go way back, so I'll be around a lot."

"And I'm Angel." Said the drag queen from her seat in the professor's lap. "I'm madly in love with Collins so I'll be around just as much as he is. I also always have candy."

Maureen giggled. "Yeah she does and I always have beer, or tequila, or wine, or something fun. Oh I'm Maureen by the way." She spouted out quickly.

Joanne rolled her eyes. "Maureen you can't give any of that to Roger's daughters. You know better than that." She turned to the girls. "Hello, I'm Joanne, and for some strange reason, I'm madly in love with Maureen so-"

"So she's a workaholic and you'll never see her." Maureen jumped in. "But I'm blissfully unemployed, so I'll be here and we can hang out!"

"Moocher." Collins faked coughed into his hand.

Maureen flipped him off. "Whatever Collins, at least I didn't have my lover buy me a fucking coat and end up living with him for 'a thousand sweet kisses.'" The diva teased.

Roger rolled his eyes and looked at his daughters. "Ignore them. Mark, Angel, and Joanne are the most sane and normal people around here. Ask them if you ever need anything. Stay away from the other two."

"Hey! I am perfectly sane." Collins protested.

"Col, you're having an argument with _Maureen_ about who is the bigger moocher. That's insane."

"Arguing with Maureen period is insane." Joanne muttered. "Sorry Roger, but I've got to leave now. I have a huge case to handle tomorrow and I know that all this madness from today is only going to make life harder for me."

"No it's fine Jo, I understand. I'll see you tomorrow. Say bye to Joanne girls." Roger said.

"Bye," they chorused.

"I'll meet you at home Pookie." Maureen told her girlfriend. "I want to talk to Roger's little cuties for a while."

Roger's beeper went off just then. Mark gave him a look, and the rocker rolled his eyes. "I have to handle something right now. Mo can you keep them company for a while?"

"No prob Rog!" the diva agreed.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Roger and Mark went off to the kitchen and Collins and Angel said their goodbyes, leaving Maureen, Danni, and Lizette in the sitting room. The diva smiled at the girls. "Hey there cuties. Why don't you tell me about yourselves?"

Danni lowered her eyes quickly while Lizette bounced out of her chair to sit with Maureen. Now that the moment had passed, she wasn't crying anymore. "I like pink." She said. "I like pink and pizza. My Daddy brings me pizza sometimes, but never anything pink. Do you know why that is?"

Maureen grinned. "Roger hates the color pink. You'll find that out soon enough. Danni, why don't you tell me something?"

The girl shrugged. "I love to read." She said simply.

Maureen rolled her eyes. "Come on there has to be more than that. What's your favorite color? Do you have a boyfriend? What's _his_ favorite color?"

Danni's nose flared like Roger's did sometimes when he was annoyed. "Lizzie." She said to her sister. "Go tell Dad you need your vitamin."

"But I don't wanna take it." The little girl complained.

"You have to Lizette, we've been over this. Tell Dad that the bottle is in the pink bag he brought from our house." When her little sister still hesitated Danni stood up. "Fine I'll go with you." She grabbed the girl by the hand and towed her off to Roger's room, where he had gone to take his AZT.

Mark looked up when the girls entered. "Hey," he said uncertainly. "Um, do you need something?"

Danni ignored him and pierced her father with a look. Roger just stared back until he suddenly remembered. "Fuck!" he exclaimed. "I mean darn. I forgot. Come here Lizzie. Thanks Danni."

"No problem." The teenager said dryly. She leaned against the wall, watching as her father found the pink bag and fumbled around in it until he came up with a small bottle of pills. Mark peered over Roger's shoulder to read the label.

He gasped when he read it. "Oh no."

Roger nodded glumly and handed his younger daughter a pill and the remains of his glass of water. She looked at it distastefully and then swallowed it. "Danni, can you take Liz to the bathroom please? It's the second door on the right."

Without replying, Danielle took her sister's hand and they left the room. Mark looked at Roger with a mixture of expectancy and sadness. "Yeah, she has HIV." The musician explained. "I didn't know for the longest time. Elizabeth didn't want to make me feel bad or responsible for it, so she hid it from me. I probably still wouldn't know if it weren't for Danni. She was getting fed up with my apparent disinterest in the subject; her words not mine, and finally told me everything."

"So what are you going to do now that it's up to you to raise her?" Mark wanted to know.

Roger shrugged. "Well I've got nearly thirteen years of dealing with my own problem. I think I can handle it. And if I can't, then I'm sure Danni will make sure I figure out how."

"Yeah, she does seem a little intense." Mark commented with a smile. "A lot like you."

"And that is what worries me. She's way too young to be so much like me."

"It'll be fine. She just needs to open up some, and living here with us and being constantly around Maureen, Collins, and Angel, she's bound to."

"I guess." Roger replied. "But it might take a lot. I mean the kid lost her mother and her aunt and now she's stuck with me and her six year old sister. That can not be an easy life for a sixteen year old to live."

"Oh like we had it so good when we were sixteen." Mark retorted. "Don't worry, Danni'll be fine Rog. You might not know it but you have grown up and I think you'll be a good father to those girls."

Roger rolled his eyes. "Okay Mr. Sunshine. That's enough compliments for one day. Keep this up and people will start to think that you love me or something."

"And we can't have that of course." Mark answered.

Suddenly there was a shout from the main room. "Daddy, I'm hungry!"

"And we begin." said Roger as he headed into the other room.

With Maureen's help the bohos got something remotely edible on the table and they all sat down to eat. The diva tried to engage Danielle in conversation only to get one or two word answers from her the whole time. It was after seven when the teenager scowled at Roger and snapped, "Liz should be in bed."

"Oh but Danni, it's not late and I wanna talk to the nice people!" Lizette complained.

"Bed, Lizzie." Danielle repeated and gave her father a look that was not to be argued with.

"Um, yeah. So I'll show you two where you're sleeping." Roger acquiesced. The girls followed him to Collins' old room and shut the door. As soon as it swung shut Maureen jumped up and plopped into Mark's lap.

"What the fuck is up with those kids?" she asked loudly.

"Maureen please. Not so loud. This place isn't exactly soundproof." Mark returned.

"Well I'm sorry, but they are just creepy. The little one is okay, but she lets herself be ordered around way too much."

Mark rolled his eyes. "She's six Maureen."

"And the older one is so weird. She reminds me of someone, but I can't put my finger on it."

"Roger," Mark supplied. "She reminds you of Roger. That's how he used to be back when April died. The one words answers and reclusive snappishness. That's all Roger."

"Jesus fucking Christ!" Maureen exclaimed. "You're right. She's like a sixteen year old angst ridden girl version of Roger Davis. Marky we have to do something. We can't let her stay like this, it's too depressing."

"What do you want me to do about it?" Mark demanded. "I know nothing about teenage girls."

"That is a very good point," Maureen agreed thoughtfully. "I guess it's up to me and Angel then. We can take her shopping and over to the Life. Maybe we'll even find a nice young man or woman for her to date."

Mark could smell the whiff of a scheme and got a little worried. "Look, just make sure you run all this by Roger before you get too carried away. He might not appreciate you corrupting his daughter."

Maureen waved his comment away. "He'll be thrilled. Roger trusts me Marky, you should too."

"The fuck he does." Mark muttered, but it was too late. Maureen was already lost in the thrall of planning.

She jumped up, grabbed her purse and headed for the door. "I'll see you later Marky!" she yelled and was gone.

Mark went to the phone and dialed Collins and Angel's number. Angel picked up on the third ring. "Hello House of Fabulousness, this is Angel." She said.

"Hey Ang. It's Mark." The filmmaker replied. "I need to talk to you for a sec."

"Sure thing Marky honey. What's going on?"

"Maureen is hatching some elaborate plan to make Roger's daughter Danielle a better person. You know how out of control Maureen can get, and she's not planning on running anything by Roger. All I'm asking is that you try your hardest to restrain her from doing anything too outlandish."

"Yeah, I think that might be best." Angel said. "I'll do what I can."

Mark sighed in relief. "Thanks Angel."


	3. Chapter 3

This is the last set up chapter. And I guess I should do the disclaimer thing now. **I do not own Rent or any affiliated characters except Lizette and Danielle. **

Chapter 3

It was 12:17 am and September 11, by far one of the longest days of Roger's life, was finally over. The musician was lying on the couch, eyes closed, shirtless, and strumming his guitar. His fingers automatically found the chords for the song he had written eleven years ago.

_Your eyes, as we said our goodbyes…_ he sang in a whisper. As he cut off, there was the sound of a sob coming from the room where his daughters were sleeping. Roger sat up and listened for a second. A second sob followed the first, so he got up and went to poke his head in the room. Lizette was curled up under the blanket on the bed, sound asleep. But Danni was on the floor in the fetal position shaking violently. Roger closed his eyes, praying for strength, and then went over to her.

"Danni, are you okay?" he asked softly. The girl didn't respond, just cried harder so Roger sat down beside her on the floor. He pulled her against his chest and let her cry. Roger was so surprised that Danielle was allowing him to get this close that he started to sing into her hair like he did for Mimi and April before her. After a minute or so he tried again. "What's wrong Danielle?"

She lifted her tearstained face. "What's going to happen to us Dad? Everybody we had is dead now."

"You're going to be fine." Roger answered. "You'll stay here with me and Mark."

"And what about when _you_ die?" Danielle snapped. "What do we do then? Where are we going to go?"

To her surprise, Roger laughed. "Listen kid, when I get around to dying, you won't need me anymore. I've been hanging in there for over a decade and I'm not planning on cutting out anytime soon. And as for where you'll go, you don't have to go anywhere. Mark's not going to kick you out."

"Yeah but, Lizette needs structure. She just lost her mother and can't be assured of a life with you. How easy is it going to be for her just to live here with Mark if you die?" Danni argued.

Roger laughed again. "Danni, Danni, Danni." He chuckled. "Lizzie will never have to worry about that. She has you. When I'm gone and Mark gets sick of your surliness and kicks you out, which he never will by the way, Lizzie will have you. I would never have brought her here without you. She needs you and I know_ I_ sure as hell do."

Danielle sucked in a breath. I'm not surly. I'm motherless teen with an AIDS infected father; excuse me for having an attitude." She pushed herself away from Roger and got into bed beside her sister. "Goodnight." She snapped at him and rolled over.

Roger took that to mean "Get out," so he did. He had learned from his own childhood that sometimes it was better to be a hands-off parent.

Nine hours later, Mark awoke to a curly blond head and bright aqua eyes directly in his face. "Hi Mark!" chirped Lizette's cheerful voice. "It's morning time."

"Apparently it is." Mark returned. "Does your dad know you're up?"

Lizette shook her head and bounced up and down on the bed. "He's still snoring. Will you play with me?"

Mark smiled. "I would love to. Give me ten minutes okay hon? I'll meet you in the kitchen and we'll play what I like to call the breakfast game."

"Okay." The girl agreed and ran out of the room. Mark chuckled. Life was going to get way more interesting with the girls in the loft. The filmmaker got dressed hurriedly and brushed his teeth as he fluffed his hair that he was beginning to let grow out. Once he was satisfied that he didn't look like a bum anymore, he headed out to the main room of the loft.

Danni was reading on the couch and Roger was asleep next to her. Mark rolled his eyes and tossed a rolled up sock at his best friend. "Get up you lazy bum. Your daughter and I are making breakfast."

"Don't let her use a knife." Danni ordered without looking up. "You know why."

"Yeah I know." Mark agreed just as Roger sat up and snapped, "Don't be rude to Mark." The musician turned to his best friend. "What's for breakfast?"

"Ask Lizette. She's in charge."

The little girl jumped up and squealed. "Can we make pancakes Mark? Please can we? Please?" she begged.

"Well I went shopping yesterday and I got some breakfast stuff. So yeah we can make pancakes."

"Awesome!" the girl exclaimed jumping into Mark's arms. "Let'sgolet'sgolet'sgolet'sgo." Mark laughed and towed the Lizette into the kitchen. Once they whipped up some batter and chopped up some apples to put in, the door opened to reveal Collins, Angel, and Maureen.

"We're here!" the diva announced.

"But nobody invited you!" Roger retorted. "Hey Col, Ang. What do you want Maureen?"

"I'm not here to see you Davis. I'm here to see your daughters. And I smell pancakes!" Maureen sang out and skipped over to the kitchen.

Collins rolled his eyes and pushed Roger over so that he could sit beside Danielle. "Hey kid. What are you reading?" She turned her book around and held it up so the professor could see. "Ah Bronte, good choice. Tell me, do you have a preference between Emily and Charlotte?"

Danni's eyes lit up. "I try not to play favorites, but I must say that Wuthering Heights kicks Jane Eyre's ass." She told him. "There's just something really endearing about Heathcliff's obsessions."

"I agree." Collins replied. "There's a method to his madness. It's nice that Heathcliff isn't just unnecessarily brutal."

"Totally!" Danni agreed quickly. "I kind of wanted to date Heathcliff for a while."

"Oh I did too kid. I did too." Collins admitted. "Something about him holding me hostage in a room makes me ridiculously happy and horn-" he broke off when Roger glared at him. "But that's a story for another time." He continued.

Danni rolled her eyes. "Oh please Dad. I'm sixteen and I'm not stupid. I'm not going to get all bothered when Collins says that Heathcliff getting all bondage and domination with him would make him _horny_. I mean God, my sister and I are the products of drunken nights with two different women. I know how sex works."

Roger scowled at her. "Go eat breakfast with the others." He ordered. "Now."

Danielle rolled her eyes again and flounced off into the kitchen. Collins chuckled and followed her, and Angel came to sit beside Roger. The rocker put his head in his hands and groaned.

Angel smiled. "You're doing fine Roger honey. Teenagers are harder, especially ones in a situation like your Danielle is in. Don't worry about it. And don't worry about Maureen either."

"Why should I worry about Maureen?" Roger asked suspiciously.

"No, I said you shouldn't worry about Maureen." Angel corrected.

"Which means that there is something happening that is cause for worry and Maureen is at the center of it. Spill, Angel."

"Well, Maureen wants to take Danielle out and make her more sociable and dateable or something like that. I promised Mark that I wouldn't let her get too out of control though."

Roger glared in the drama queen's direction. "No. She is not corrupting my daughter. It's bad enough that she has me and April for parents. She does not need to be taught sociability skills from the loudest, craziest, most sex addicted woman that we know."

Angel smothered a grin. "I can see your point. I would let her spend sometime around one of us though. Maybe Collins. They could talk about books. That would be a much better influence."

"You know I'm desperate when I'm going to send my child to Collins because he's the saner of two psychopaths." Roger sighed. "But he actually is, maybe I'll send her with you two when you go home. She could definitely use some Angel time."

"I would be honored Roger." Angel said.

"No, _I_ would be honored." The musician corrected. "I know I can't do this without any help."

A/N: Okay so these are the set up chapters. Now the stage has been set for the drama! The next chapter will be set about three months later and I will be introducing a new character to the scene. The updating will go faster with every review I get. They inspire me to make you all happy.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

Three months passed and everybody settled into their new living arrangements. Danielle was still a little aloof, but she was happier now that she was being home schooled by Collins and socialized by Angel. Lizette was always happy and kept the bohemians from getting too stressed out with her bouncing nature and ever present laugh. Roger was constantly busy adjusting to parenting and Mark was dating again. Maureen got over the injustice of not being allowed to take Danni out, and Joanne won court case after court case. All in all, everyone was very happy for a change.

Now it was a little after four on a Friday afternoon and Danielle was wrapping up a tutoring session with Collins when Mark came in the front door hand in hand with his new girlfriend Kirsten. She was twenty-two and a recent graduate from the art program at NYU. She was a friend of Collins and that was how Mark met her. Now they had been going out for nearly two months much to everyone's surprise. Kirsten was not the kind of girl Mark usually went for, unless you counted Maureen. She smoked often and drank on occasion (though still considerably less than Maureen) and she had a fiery wit. More importantly, she was crazy about Mark.

Danielle looked up as the door opened and smiled. "Hey Mark. Hi Kirsten." She greeted.

Kirsten grinned and went to sit by the girl. "What's up Danni? Hey Collins, how's it going?"

"It's going Kir," Collins replied and kissed her on the cheek. "Just giving young Danielle here a lesson in classical literature, and what have you two been doing today?" he asked, giving Mark a coy look.

"We went for a walk and Mark filmed for a while and then we grabbed some lunch at the Life." Kirsten answered. "Hey Danni, you want to go to the bookstore with me and Collins later? The good professor's buying." Collins rolled his eyes and headed out to the fire escape to smoke.

"That sounds good." Danielle said. "Mark, Dad said that he'll be home around six and that he has news."

Mark gave her look as she headed into her room to put her books away. "Good news?" he asked skeptically.

"He just said news." She called back. "He took Lizzie somewhere a little while after you left and I haven't seen him since. But he didn't sound happy when he called."

"Well that's just great." Mark responded sarcastically. "I'm going to go take a shower. Holler at me before you leave okay Kir?"

"You got it baby." Kirsten said with an evil smile. "Although if you wanted, I could just join you in there." She waggled her eyebrows seductively.

Mark blushed and shook his head. "Child in the loft Kirsten. Maybe later."

Danielle groaned. "Why does everyone think that they have to censor everything about sex around me?" she demanded. "I'm almost seventeen for fuck's sake!"

"Really, for fuck's sake? Was that particular expletive necessary?" Kirsten asked with a shrewd look. "Your father wouldn't like that kind of language coming from his little princess."

"Okay one; I'm not the little princess. That's Lizette's job. I'm more the surly wench next door. And two, he can't say anything about me using expletives. He combines them with every word known to the English language, even ones with religious connotations." Danielle responded.

Kirsten laughed at the younger girl who she was really quite fond of. Danni was the closest thing that she had to a sister and they were enough alike that if they didn't look so remarkably different they could actually pass for sisters. Where Danielle was blond, green eyed and fair Kirsten was darker and had dark golden eyes. Her hair just brushed the top of her back and was a dark brown color, streaked with dark red. They were both tall and relatively slender. "You are ridiculous Danni."

The teenager smiled. "So can I ask you a question Kirsten?" she asked.

"Go for it." Mark's girlfriend replied.

"Well, you know Tobias the new waiter at the Life Café right?"

Kirsten thought about it for a minute. Then she grinned. "Shoulder length brown hair, awesome abs, about eighteen?"

"Deep blue eyes…" Danni continued and then trailed off embarrassed. "Yeah that's him."

"What about Tobias?" Kirsten inquired, although she was sure she already knew.

"I was down there with Maureen and Collins the other day and he was talking to me for a while before our food came. When we got ready to leave, he gave me his number and said I should call him sometime. But then yesterday I saw him walking home with another girl." Danni explained.

"Did you call him?" Kirsten wanted to know.

"No, I never did." Danielle admitted.

The woman rolled her eyes. "Alright hand over the phone and the number." She ordered. Danielle handed her the phone from off the table and pulled a napkin out of her pocket that had the number scribbled on it. Kirsten accepted both and dialed the number.

"Hi, can I speak to Tobias please?" she asked when someone picked up. "Tobias hey. This is Kirsten, Mark's girlfriend. Yeah. Well the other day you gave your number to Mark's roommate Roger's oldest daughter Danielle and she was freaking out because she has just been so busy this week and hasn't had time to call you. So I told her that I would do it while she studies with Collins. You know Collins of course." She was talking at the speed of light on purpose. "Anyway Danni just wanted me to tell you that she'd like to get together sometime. Yeah? I know for a fact that she's free then. In fact she'll be down at the Life later tonight and you guys can talk then. Okay? Sounds good." She hung up with a flourish. "Now you have a date with Tobias tomorrow afternoon." Kirsten announced.

"Oh my God Kirsten, thank you!" Danielle exclaimed and threw herself at the older girl. Then she pulled back. "Fuck. Dad will never let me go out with him. Fuck, fuck, fuck!"

Kirsten raised an eyebrow. "I'm offended when you say fuck." She told her and folded her arms.

"Oh whatever. What am I going to do about Dad? He'll die before he lets me go out with Tobias. He has an eyebrow ring _and_ a tattoo. There's no chance Dad'll ever go for that."

"Like he's such a blue collar?" Kirsten retorted. "Roger's a badass himself."

"I'm offended when you say ass." Danni interrupted.

"Shut up. Look I'll talk to Roger for you if you want. But if you want my opinion, he's only been in charge of you for like three months. You can do what you want."

"Yeah right." Danni retorted. She looked over as Collins who had just come back in. "Can we just go now please? I need to talk to Tobias before I talk to Dad."

"Tobias from the Life?" Collins asked with interest. "When did that happen?"

"I'll fill you in on the way to the bookstore Professor Stoned A lot." Kirsten joked.

Meanwhile, halfway across the Village, Roger was sitting in the doctor's office with Lizette on his lap. She was half sleep and her father was not doing much better. First he had gotten tests on himself to make sure that he was still doing alright (he was). While he was there he decided to have them take a look at Lizette. It turned out she was not doing so hot. Apparently she had caught a cold a few months before and it had severely weakened her immune system. Now they were sitting outside waiting for another doctor to come back and tell them just how bad it really was.

The musician looked up as the doctor walked down towards him. It was the same doctor who had walked down this exact same hall to tell them that Mimi wasn't going to make it. Roger fought a shudder, shifted Lizette onto the bench, and stood up.

"Ah, Mr. Davis." Dr. Wilson said when he reached them. "Nice to see you again."

Fighting the urge to give the good doctor a dirty look, Roger smiled and shook the man's hand. "I wish it were on better circumstances."

"Yes I suppose that would be preferable." Dr. Wilson replied. "So I suppose you would like the results of little Lizette's test results. But first I need to ask, how she is related to you."

Now Roger did give him a withering look. "She's my daughter." He snapped. "I would appreciate it if you would just give me the results now. I do have better things to do than stand around in this god forsaken hospital."

Dr. Wilson cleared his throat. "Well it's like this Mr. Davis. Lizette's immune system is shot right now. The cold that she caught recently wreaked havoc on her white count and she will need to double up on her AZT intake for the next few weeks. I suggest that she stays here in our care for best results."  
"No." Roger said immediately. "I don't want her staying here. She can take her AZT at home."

"I'm not sure if that's the best idea Mr. Davis." Dr. Wilson said with hesitation. "Lizette can get better much faster here than she can at your…home."

Roger's nostrils flared in annoyance. "You can call my loft a crap hole if you want to, but that's where my daughter will be. I've trusted enough lives to your care and I truthfully think that she will be much better off at home with the people who love her."

"I understand how you feel Mr. Davis but…" the doctor was cut off by Roger lifting Lizette into his arms and walking away purposefully. He sighed and shook his head, hoping that the musician would not end up losing another loved one.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

When Roger arrived at home that night, it was a cheerful party that greeted him. Collins was halfway through a bottle of Stoli and a novel by Heighdegger. Kirsten was curled up in Mark's lap with a book of her own. She wasn't reading, but smiling over the rim of her book at Danni and some boy who were talking at the kitchen table. Her eyes flicked over to Roger. "Hey Roger man." She greeted him. "Where've you been all day?"

Roger shook his head and met Mark's blue eyes. "Let me put Lizette to bed and then I'll explain." He raised an eyebrow at Danni as he walked by. The teenager sucked in a breath at the sad look in her father's eyes.

She turned to Tobias. "You should probably leave before my dad comes back out here. I need to talk to him about you before he has a chance to get upset."

Tobias nodded. "That sounds like a good idea. I wouldn't want to piss Roger Davis off." He got up and kissed Danni on the cheek. "So I'll see you tomorrow right?"

"Count on it." She replied.

Roger emerged from the girls' room just as Tobias closed the front door behind himself. "Who was that?" the musician asked as he sat across from Danni at the table.

"Tobias from the Life Café." She mumbled back quickly. "What's your news Dad?"

Her father sighed and found Mark's eyes again. "Lizette's sick." he told them.

"What do you mean sick?" Collins asked. "Like she has the flu or something?"

"She has HIV Col." Roger explained. "She's had it since birth. A couple of months ago she caught a cold and now her immune system is shot to hell."

"Damn." Kirsten swore.

"What's going to happen?" Mark wanted to know.

"We were just at the hospital with Dr. Wilson and he said that she will have to double up on her medication for a while."

"I can imagine that the good Dr. Wilson wanted Lizette to stay at the hospital rather than coming back here." Collins remarked dryly.

"Yeah, well he can suck it." Kirsten spoke up. Roger stared at her in surprise. "What?" she asked him. "I know how much you guys all hate the hospital."

Mark wrapped his arms around his girlfriend and they both looked at Danni who had been mostly silent for the conversation. Roger followed their gaze. "Danni?" he prompted. "You okay?"

The girl's face was pale and she was shaking. "Do. Not. Let. My. Sister. Die." She growled out. "You had better know what you're doing Dad. Lizette's too young to suffer."

Roger smiled slightly. "Trust me Danielle; you are now in a home full of people who that understand how to handle this situation due to years of experience. I promise that I won't let anything happen to Lizette."

"Well you've already condemned her to die by just being her father." Danielle snapped. "I doubt there is anything more you can do to screw her over." She stomped out of the room and into her and her sister's bedroom.

Roger winced as the door slammed. "It never gets easier does it?" he asked.

"She's a teenager Rog." Kirsten soothed. "Worse, she's a teenage girl with no mother. It's not supposed to be easy."

"Sometimes I wonder if I did the right thing by bringing her here." Roger mused.

"Of course you did." Mark assured him. "As much as she may hate it, you are her father and she needs you."

"I guess."

"She does." Kirsten added. "And she respects you." Roger looked skeptical so Kirsten elaborated. "That guy who was here? Tobias? She likes him a lot and he likes her. But before she lets anything happen she's going to talk to you about it." The young woman looked at the clock and groaned. "Fuck, I need to get the out of here. I've got to be at work at eight tomorrow."

Collins rose from the couch. "I'll accompany you former pupil of my mine. I need to get home to my woman."

Once they were gone, Mark turned to his best friend. "How are you holding up?"

"I'm fine." Roger lied. The bespectacled man raised an eyebrow and Roger sighed and slumped over at the table. "Okay so, I'm not fine. I'm fucking miserable."

Mark smiled sympathetically and patted the couch cushion next to him. "Come here." He ordered.

Roger obeyed and flopped on the couch. "Mark this is all my fault, I don't know what I'll do if Lizette doesn't make it. And on top of it all, Danni hates me. I-I don't know if I can handle all this. I'm not responsible enough to be a fucking parent."

"Yes you are." Mark disagreed. "You've been doing a good job so far. You can handle this Roger. I know you can." He was silent for a second. Then, "What are you going to tell Lizette?"

The musician buried his head in his hands. "I don't know." He wailed. "How do you explain the concept of HIV to a six year old?"

Mark shrugged. "I've never had the experience. Maybe you should talk to Angel about it. I bet she'd know what to say."

Roger nodded. "I'll call her tomorrow." He got up and headed towards his room. As an afterthought, he turned back to face his friend. "Mark, you don't think it's going to be as bad for Liz as it was for Mimi, do you?"

"Of course it won't." Mark replied fervently. "Liz is young and we've all learned from Mimi's mistakes. She'll get through this.


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

At eight in the morning the next day, Roger awoke to hear the sounds of chords being picked out on his guitar, coming from the main room of the loft. He got out of bed, pulled on a shirt, and stuck his head out the door.

Danielle was sitting on the dilapidated couch with her hair in a tousled mess around her head and Roger's guitar in her lap. Her hands looked so graceful as she changed chords swiftly, progressing from G to D to A7 with ease. The tune that issued from the instrument was deep and melancholy and it nearly brought a tear to Roger's eye to see his daughter this way. He waited until she brought the melody to a close and then cleared his throat.

"I didn't know you could play guitar." He commented.

"Just one more thing that makes me like you." Danielle mumbled and didn't look up. "Lucky me."

Roger sighed. "You know what Danni?" he began. "I'm tired of fighting with you about everything. If you want to hate me then you can. I understand." He turned to leave.

"Dad I don't hate you, alright?" Danni replied quickly.

Roger came out of his room and joined her on the couch. "Really, because it sure seems like you do sometimes."

Now it was Danielle's turn to sigh. "Fuck it Dad! I'm angry! My mother is dead, my aunt is dead, you're fucking dying, and now so is my little sister. All the people I thought I could count on are dropping like flies. Don't expect me to just grin and bear it."

"No one expects that of you." Roger assured her. "It's just that you are always so hostile and I was worried. You have every right be angry, but you shouldn't let your anger consume you. It's unhealthy to have that much anger at your age, trust me."

Danielle considered this. "I'm trying." She admitted after a minute. "But things just keep happening to make me angry."

"I've got news for you kid, that's how life is. Sometimes it's going to fucking screw you over but you can't let it make you crazy. You've got to channel it into something else. That's why Mark films, why Collins teaches, why Angel cares so much, why Maureen performs, and why-"

"You play music." Danni finished for him.

"You got it kid." Roger told her. He got up to leave but Danielle put her hand on his arm to stop him.

"Can I talk to you about something Dad?" she asked him.

"Yeah." Roger said, a little surprised. "What's up?"

"Um, remember when Tobias from the Life was here yesterday?" Danni asked. Roger nodded. "Well he was here because we kind of have a date later today."

"You _kind of_ have a date?"

"I mean we _do_ have a date later today and he was here yesterday because we were getting to know each other better beforehand. I was going to tell you about it earlier yesterday but then all the shit with Lizette happened and I thought it would be bad to bring it up."

"Oookay." Roger said slowly. "I'm going to attempt to handle all these issues right now. First, stop cussing. Over the course of this conversation you've said fuck or some version of it twice and shit once. You're sixteen; give it a couple of years before you become a bad ass. Second, you can go out with this Tobias kid, but I want to talk to him before you do. Sound good?"

Danni was speechless so she just nodded. Roger got to his feet again and began to head back into his room.

"Dad?" Danielle stopped him again. "I can talk to Lizette if you want me to. I could try to explain it to her."

"No," her father said. "This is something that I have to do. She needs to hear it from me." He continued into his room, but stuck his head out again. "But it means a lot that you offered." Roger closed his door with a smile.

Neither Roger nor Danni had noticed that Mark's door was open and he was standing in his doorway watching them. Once Roger was gone the filmmaker stepped out. "That was very decent of you." He commented.

"I don't want him to think I hate him." Danielle replied. "Because I don't."

Mark smiled slightly and came to sit next to the girl. "He knows that. Roger sometimes tends to take the burden of the world on his shoulders and then blames himself when things go wrong. That's just how he is."

"Mark? Do you think Lizette's going to be okay? Shouldn't she be in the hospital?" Danni asked.

Mark sighed. "We haven't had too much luck with that hospital or its doctors. But I am worried that her being here with no one but us looking after her is probably a bad idea."

"Is there anything we can do? Would Dad listen to us if we said something?"

"Probably not. He hates the hospital more than anything. Especially that one. We've lost so many friends to that place." Mark sighed again. "I think we're just going to have to accept this and try to help your dad as much as possible."


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

A few hours later, Kirsten came over to hang out with Mark, and Collins came to get Danni for tutoring. Roger was sitting in his room playing a melancholy progression of chords when there was a knock on the door. "Come in." he called. To his surprise Lizette pushed the door open and padded in, in her fluffy slippers.

"Hi Daddy." The girl said softly, which was strange for her.

"Hey Liz, are you okay?" Roger asked. "Come here." He patted the bed beside him and the little girl climbed up and laid her head on his arm."

"My head hurts Daddy." She whispered. "I don't feel good."

Roger looked at his younger daughter in alarm. Her face was hot against his arm. "Lizzie?" he began, trying to stay calm for her sake. "When did you start feeling bad?"

"My head was hurting and that made me wake up. Am I going to be okay?" Lizette wanted to know.

He wanted to lie, but instead just didn't say anything. Roger lifted the girl into his arms and carried her out into the main room of the loft. Neither Mark nor Danni was anywhere to be found so he walked over and kicked the filmmaker's door. "Mark? Mark open the door dammit!"

Mark obliged a few seconds later with a shirt half on his body. "What?" he asked crossly. "I was trying to get dressed Roger."

"Feel Liz's forehead." The musician ordered. "I think she's running a fever."

"Shit." Mark swore when he touched the girl's head. "She's burning up. We've got to do something."

"Something like what?"

"What's going on?" a female voice asked from Mark's bed. Kirsten poked her head out from under the covers and squinted at Roger.

"Lizette is running a high fever." Mark answered.

"How high?" Kirsten asked, waking up instantly. "Is she hallucinating?"

Mark looked at Roger who shook his head. "No, she just came into my room and told me that her head hurt and she didn't feel good. She rested her head on my arm and I noticed that she was really warm."

Kirsten nodded. "Okay, you need to take her temperature and then cool her off. Put her on the couch and get two washcloths. Run some cold water over them and put one on her head. Stick the other in the freezer for a few minutes and then swap them."

"Alright." Roger said and rushed to do as she had instructed with Mark not far behind. Kirsten got dressed and then joined them in the main room where they were watching the girl as she tossed fitfully.

"Her temperature is 101.6." Mark told his girlfriend.

"We just have to wait for it to come down." She replied as they all looked down at Lizette.

"Daddy!" she cried at one point. "Make them go away! There hurting Mommy! Make them go away! DADDY!"

"Shh. I'm right here Liz. I'm right here. No one can hurt Mommy anymore, I promise." Roger soothed the girl until she fell asleep. He nodded at Mark who moved in to take Lizette's temperature. The thermometer read 99.8

"Her fever's breaking." Kirsten said. "I think she'll be okay for a while."

Mark and Roger exchanged a look. 'A while' wasn't nearly long enough and they knew it. Similar things had been said about Mimi and she hadn't made it. "I'll go to the pharmacy and get some medicine and stuff." Mark offered. "I think she's going to need it."

Roger nodded and continued to stare down at his child. He was vaguely aware of Mark leaving the loft as tears ran hot down his face. Kirsten looked up at him in shock as sobs escaped his control and racked his body. She was pretty sure in the three months that she'd known him she'd never seen him cry.

"Rog? Come on, it's going to be okay." She tried to soothe him.

The musician just shook his head. "It's my fault." He sobbed. "It's always my fault." He headed toward his room but was blinded by tears, so he ended up just slumping against the wall and sliding to the floor. Kirsten followed and sat down beside him. "I'm like that Midas guy. Everything he touched turned to gold or something. Everything I touch ends up dying. I was just too damn greedy in the beginning and now I'm fucking paying for it."

Kirsten remembered the story well, King Midas wished that everything he touched would turn to gold, and it did. Until eventually he couldn't eat or drink anything and he ended up turning his own daughter into a golden statue. It was his greed that had been King Midas' downfall. Though he probably didn't know it, Roger had made a perfect analogy.

She wrapped her arms around him. "Roger, it's not your fault." She lied.

"Yes it fucking is!" Roger replied. "It's my fault I got AIDS. If I had've just listened to Mark and never started shooting up with April then maybe…" he trailed off and dissolved into tears. Kirsten just rubbed his back and let him cry. No one saw Danni standing in the doorway, so no one saw or heard her slide the door closed and run hard down the stairs and out into the street.


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8

Danni wasn't even watching where she was going until she nearly slammed into a solid male body.

"Hey what's the rush?" he asked.

Danni looked up and into the blue eyes of Tobias. She sighed in relief and sagged against his body, finally allowing herself to cry. "Tobias what am I going to do?" she sobbed.

"Danni what's wrong?" the young man wanted to know. "Come sit with me." He suggested. Tobias led Danielle to the Life Café and sat her down at a table, he went behind the bar and got her a soda which he slid to her and the slid himself into the seat across from hers. "You wanna talk?" he prompted.

Danni took a shuddering breath. "Do you know why I'm here, in the city? Why I came to live with my dad?" Tobias shook his head. "Because my mother is dead." Danielle told him. She began to explain about Roger, April and their disease and then about her aunt and sister. "Lizette's mother, my aunt, was killed in the attacks three months ago so that's why she came here with me. She's HIV positive just like our father and now she's really sick."

"Is she going to be okay?" Tobias inquired.

"I don't know." The girl replied. "I mean my dad's made it this far, but…" she began to cry again.

Tobias just held her hand and let her cry. Fifteen minutes later, she was all cried out. She laid her head on the cool surface of the table. Seeing his friend so emotionally exhausted spurred Tobias to action.

"Does Mark or Roger know where you are?" he asked.

Danni shook her head. "He thinks I'm with Collins." She whispered.

"You should be with your family right now." Tobias told her. "Come on, I'll walk you home." He pulled her to her feet and out the door. "So I guess our date's going to be postponed, huh?"

"I'm sorry." Danielle murmured.

"No worries." The boy responded. "You'll be here and we'll reschedule.

They walked the rest of the way to the loft in silence. Tobias knocked on the door to the bohemians' home and Mark opened it a few seconds later. He raised his eyebrows at the two teenagers. "Hey Tobias," he greeted. "Is Danni okay?"

"Yeah, she's just pretty spent right now. I saw her walking alone and I took her to the Life to talk a little while ago. I thought she should be here with you guys right now, so I walked her home."

"Thank you." Mark said. Danni let go of Tobias and walked into the loft. The first thing she saw was Roger, sitting against a wall with his head in his hands. Mark closed the door. "He's been like that since Liz went to sleep." He said softly.

The teenager walked over, sat beside her father and promptly burst into tears. The sound of his oldest child sobbing made Roger look up. Danni looked so small and broken as she wept beside him that he knew he couldn't waste time feeling sorry for himself or falling apart. He took the girl into his arms and let her cry against him.

"Dad." She gasped out. "Is Lizzie…" she tried again. "Is Lizzie…going to die?"

Roger looked over the girl's head at Mark who was watching them with a remorseful look on his face. The filmmaker nodded his head indicating that Roger should tell his daughter what they had learned from the doctor they'd called. "It…doesn't look good Danielle." He said. "She's too sick, too soon. And with this weather..." Roger glanced outside at the flurries of snow that had just begun to fall. "I just don't know."

"I don't want her to die Daddy." Danni cried. Roger's heart wrenched for the girl. She was about to lose one more family member. He would be all she had left, and there was no telling how long he had before he went to be with Mimi, April, and Elizabeth. "I don't want to be alone."

"I know, I know." Roger soothed. "I hate being alone too. That's why I've surrounded myself with so many wonderful people. They won't let you be alone."

"Promise me something Daddy." Danielle said.

"Anything." Roger replied. He loved how she was addressing him as _Daddy._

"Promise that you won't leave me until I can handle it." The musician didn't know how to respond to that. He glanced at Mark again who gave his friend a look that said 'what else can you do?'

"I promise that I'll do all I can not to leave you until you can handle it." Roger said finally. That seemed to satisfy the girl because she sniffed and laid her head against her father's shoulder. Roger met Mark's eyes with his own. "That goes for you too. Not until you can handle it"

The afternoon quickly turned into evening, then to night and Lizette had still not woken up. Roger was napping in his room and Danni was with him. Mark called the rest of the gang and Kirsten, who had left to go to work, over. Now they were all eating take out that Collins and Angel had brought and no one was talking.

"It's not fair." Maureen whispered. She was the first one to speak in nearly an hour. "Why should she have to die?"

Joanne looked at her lover in surprise. "She's not dead yet Honeybear. She could pull through."

"Most kids born with HIV don't make it past the age of ten." Collins murmured. "She might still have four good years ahead of her. Maybe more, doctors are wrong all the time. Look at how long Roger, Angel, and I have been hanging in there."

"It's not the same." Maureen shouted. "You and Angel and Roger have all had time to live. You have friends, you have love, and you have your own fucking lives! Lizette doesn't have any of that! And she may never get the chance." The diva broke out into sobs and Joanne pulled her closer. Maureen and Lizette had formed a special bond in the months that they'd known each other. They were both loud and manic, although in six-year-old Liz it was seen as endearing. It was just annoying in Maureen.

Kirsten sighed and looked at her watch. It was nearly half past ten. In about thirty minutes Lizette would have been out for twelve hours. The young woman looked at Mark. "Baby I think we need to take her to the hospital. If she won't wake up…" she trailed off, knowing that Mark and his friends knew the implications better than she did.

The filmmaker sighed. "Yeah, I know. We'll have to wake up Roger."

"Do you want to give it another half hour?" Kirsten asked.

Mark shook his head. "We can't afford to wait any longer." He stared at the wall for a minute. "Kir?" he asked. "I-I can't. Could you?"

Kirsten nodded and walked over to Roger's door. She knocked timidly and then harder. There was no answer so she cautiously pushed the door open. Roger was sound asleep, sprawled across his bed. Danni was tucked in beside him with her head on his chest. The sight of the two of them, not fighting almost made the young woman cry. She took a deep breath and moved over to the bed.

"Roger?" she whispered and shook his shoulder. "Roger?"

The musician opened his green eyes slowly. "Kir?" he mumbled. "What's going on?"

"Roger, honey I think we need to take Lizette to the hospital. It's been nearly twelve hours and she hasn't woken up yet. We're all really worried."

Roger slid Danielle carefully off of him and then sat up. He didn't say anything for a while, just looked at his older girl, her pale face made paler by the moonlight that was falling into the room through the window. "Okay." He said almost inaudibly. "Can you and Maureen or whoever's here get her ready. I- I'm going to need to talk to Danni."

Kirsten nodded. "Yeah hon. Anything. She kissed him on the cheek and left the room, closing the door behind her quietly."

Roger stared down at Danni once more and shook her awake. "Dad?" she winced at the moonlight in her face. "Was I asleep?"

"Yeah Danni. We both were." Roger took a breath. "Um look, we-we have to take your sister to the hospital. She's been out cold for about twelve hours and that's not good." He waited, expecting the girl to lash out at him for neglecting to take proper care of Lizette. Instead she just sighed and nodded in defeat.

"Okay." She whispered.

Roger nodded. "I'm going to get ready to go." He said. "You should… go be with your sister before-" he couldn't finish so he just hugged the girl one last time and left the room.

A/N: So I'm writing this and I'm wondering, "Hmm, is anyone even still reading this? I got like one review for chapter 6 and nothing for chapter 7. Come on you guys I need feedback. PLEASE! It's bad enough that I'm not going to be able to see Adam Pascal in January. Do you want to deprive me of my much-needed reviews as well? I need them to keep me going during the stress of finals week.


	9. Chapter 9

_**I know it's depressing you guys. I do. But I promise that things are going to start looking up. Right after this last depressing chapter! Oh and I don't own any of these people except of course for Danni, Lizette, Tobias, Kirsten, and Dr. Wilson. All others are products of the brilliant mind of Mr. Jonathan Larson.**_

Chapter 9

The group jumped into Joanne's Suburban and sped off to the hospital not twenty minutes later. Lizette was not responding to anyone, she just stayed asleep. Roger was holding her in his arms with Danni next to him murmuring to both of the girls. It wasn't doing much good but it made him feel better. The drive to the hospital seemed to take forever, but finally they made it. Roger, Mark, and Danni jumped out of the SUV with Lizette and hurried to the front desk.

The receptionist looked up as they came in. "Can I help you?" she asked in cold voice.

Roger was instantly brought back to the night when Mimi had been admitted to this same hospital. He shook those memories off; he couldn't afford to lose it now. "My daughter, she's been asleep for twelve hours and she had a really high fever this morning." The lady gave him a 'now-why-is-that-my-problem' look. "She's fucking HIV positive." Roger added.

That made her pay attention. "Alright sir, we'll take her back and a doctor will see what's going on. Meanwhile, you need to fill out these papers."

"We've been here before." Mark interjected. "They should already be filled out."

"Name?" the lady asked.

"Roger Davis." Mark said. The doctor had just arrived and was taking Lizette away as Roger watched in fear.

"Oh." The receptionist said. She had obviously just gotten to the part where Mimi had died there. "You're right, all your information is here already. You can just have a seat until the doctor returns."

Mark, Roger, and Danni filed into the waiting room. There was nothing they could do now, but wait. Not long after, the rest of the gang showed up.

"Have they said anything yet?" Kirsten wanted to know.

Roger shook his head. "They've gotta run some tests first. Who knows how long that will take."

"Things will be okay Roger." Angel said and took her knitting out of her bag. "Life is rarely this cruel. That girl needs your influence as much as you need hers. She won't be taken away from you."

All the males stared at Angel while the women nodded in agreement. Collins shook his head. "Ang, you impress me more and more each day." He said. Roger and Mark bobbed their heads in agreement with him. The drag queen smiled and continued to knit.

About forty minutes later, the doctor finally came out. Roger leapt to his feet and went over to him. "How's my daughter. Is she okay?"

"She'll live." Dr. Wilson intoned. The group breathed a collective sigh of relief. "But she's still very sick and it's peculiar. Her T-cells are at an okay level, she's fully hydrated and her vitals are fine. However, she seems to have temporarily shut down."

"Can't you just wake her up?" Roger asked.

"We would. But her sleep seems to be almost restorative. Every few minutes her vitals look better."

"She can't stay asleep forever!" Roger said angrily. "She'll need to eat and take her medicine."

Dr. Wilson nodded. "We're feeding her through an IV right now and we gave her a shot of azidothymidine when she came in. I suggest leaving her alone until tomorrow, while thoroughly monitoring her of course. When did she fall asleep?"

"At about eleven this morning." Roger responded.

"With your consent we'll give it until eleven tomorrow morning and then wake her up. We'll decide what course to take from there." Dr. Wilson said.

Roger mulled this over in his head. He turned around beckoned Danni over. He quickly explained to her what the doctor wanted to do. "She's closer to you than she is to me." Roger said. "Do you think we should let them keep her asleep?"

Danni sucked in a breath and looked at the doctor. "Will she be in any danger if you keep her under?" she asked. Dr. Wilson shook his head. "Alright," the teenager consented. "Do it."

Dr. Wilson raised an eyebrow and looked at Roger. "Do it." The musician echoed his daughter. The doctor nodded and went back to where they were monitoring Lizette. Roger slung an arm around his older daughter's shoulder. Together they walked back to the group.

"So now what?" Maureen asked.

Roger shrugged. "Now we go home and wait." He told her. "They're going to keep Lizette under until tomorrow morning since her sleep seems to be restorative. There's nothing more we can do."

They all trudged back to Joanne's SUV to make the drive home. Joanne dropped Collins and Angel off first. Kirsten said that she was going to stay at the loft, so the lawyer headed there next. Roger, Mark, Kirsten, and Danielle got out of the vehicle when they arrived.

"We'll be back around eight tomorrow morning Roger." Joanne said. "I know you want to be there when they wake Lizette up."

The musician nodded and smiled weakly. "Thanks Jo. It means a lot."

She waved away his gratitude. "How else would you get there?" she reasoned. "Goodnight everyone." Maureen waved tiredly from the passenger side and they drove off. Roger and the others climbed up the stairs to their home in silence. There was nothing to say really. The next day would tell it all.

A/N: See Lizette's going to live. I wouldn't do that to you guys. Anyway, I have no idea what happens when small children have HIV so I'm winging all of this. Thanks to all that contributed to the massive flux of reviews I got last night. They made me happy. It's nice to know you're still reading.


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10

Kirsten was out soon after she lay down in her boyfriend's bed, but Mark couldn't sleep that night. He was lying awake thinking about how much it would crush Roger to loose another person that he loved to a disease that he never tried to get, especially if it was his daughter. He was just rolling over when he heard guitar chords being strummed in the other room. Giving up on sleep, Mark got out of bed, careful not to wake Kirsten, and made his way into the main room.

Roger was sitting on the couch playing his guitar with Danni sitting beside him reading a thick book that she'd borrowed from Collins. This was the closest the two of them had been in while when they weren't either fighting or crying. Seeing them like that made Mark smile.

"Mark, you can join us you know." Danni said without looking up from her book.

"Yeah dude. Don't just stand there gawking. Come share in the love." Roger added. Danielle raised an eyebrow at the word _love_ but didn't argue the point. Mark grinned and came to sit on the couch beside Roger.

"You guys couldn't sleep either, huh?" The filmmaker said.

Roger shook his head and began to play Muzetta's Waltz for the first time since Mimi had died. "I won't be able to get any rest until I know that Lizette's going to be okay. Just being here at home with her all the way at the hospital…" he trailed off. "It brings back memories of when Mimi was dying."

Mark nodded. When Mimi was starting to get sicker Mark, Maureen, Joanne, Angel, and Collins had all insisted to her and Roger that she needed to be in professional care. The argument got so bad at one point that Joanne had to yell at Roger that his kisses and canned chicken soup were not a cure for AIDS. They got the dancer to the hospital in the end, not that it did much good.

"It's for the best Dad." Danni said looking up for the first time. There were unshed tears in her green eyes as she looked into her father's which were nearly a mirror image of her own.

"I know." The musician replied and finished the song smoothly. He glanced at the clock. It was a quarter till three. "I just want tomorrow to be here already."

"Technically it is tomorrow." Mark responded with a chuckle. "You know what this reminds me of Roger?"

Roger smiled. "Yeah, back when Angel was in the hospital, when they found out she was going to be okay and Collins came over here at fucking four in the morning with two bottles of Stoli and made us get out of bed and get drunk with him."

"That was crazy!" Mark grinned at the memory. The philosopher had been so happy that his beloved was going to live a while longer that he'd come all the way to the loft and the three of them celebrated until noon and then passed out into drunken stupors. "We should do that again sometime-" He broke off with a look at the underage Danni.

"That's hardly the problem here." Roger replied. "I was two years younger than you when I first got drunk with Maureen and Mark."

"Then what's the problem?" Danni asked.

"I can't get drunk while my daughter is in the hospital. That would be wrong. But I promise that as soon as I know that Lizette is okay then I will get drunk off my ass with you all. But until then…"

Mark nodded in understanding. "Okay." The three of them lapsed into a comfortable silence that lasted into the wee hours of the morning. At some point Roger began playing his guitar again and Danni fell asleep, still leaning against her father. Before any of them knew it, it was a quarter till seven.

Roger's fingers came to a halt on the strings of his guitar and he sighed. Mark had moved over to the kitchen and was making enough coffee for the people who would be arriving soon. "We should start getting ready." Mark said.

The musician nodded and nudged Danielle awake. "Hey Danni, it's time to wake up. We gotta get ready to go see your sister." The teenager opened her eyes and yawned. She nodded and got up to take a shower. When she emerged, Roger and then finally Mark went in.

There was a knock on the door not long after and Roger yelled "Come in!" as he made his way to the kitchen.

Maureen slid the door open and entered followed by Joanne. "You guys ready to go?" she asked.

Danni nodded. "Yeah as soon as Mark comes out of the bathroom we will be." She giggled as Roger burned his tongue on his coffee.

Kirsten emerged from Mark's bedroom fully dressed and ready to go. She put her arms around Danni and turned to Maureen. "Are we waiting for Collins and Angel?" she asked.

Joanne shook her head. "No they're going to meet us at the hospital. Collins said that he we were fucking insane if we thought he was getting up this early, but that he'd meet us there."

A few moments later, they were all ready to go. They piled into Joanne's suburban and headed at top speed (which for Joanne was still slightly under the speed limit) to the hospital. Joanne parked, and together all the Bohemians made their way into the waiting room.

Dr. Wilson was in there talking to a couple and he looked up in surprise to see the group heading towards him. "Mr. Davis, I wasn't expecting to see you until eleven." He said.

"Well I was worried." Roger answered. "How is my daughter doing?"

"She's looking fine. Her vitals continued to improve over the night and her white blood cell count is excellent considering her condition. There was a point at," the doctor looked at his chart. "6:42 am when her temperature spiked, but it came down quickly."

"What caused the spike?" Mark asked.

"At this point we can't tell, but whatever it was didn't seem to have caused any damage." Dr. Wilson checked his chart again. "In fact, she seems to have done all the recovering that she's going to, so we can wake her up now if you'd like."

Roger took a breath and looked at Danni. She nodded at him and he nodded at the doctor. "Okay, let's do it."

"Alright, one of you can come back with me and we'll bring her out. Once we make sure everything's in working order, she can have visitors."

They all nodded and Roger followed the doctor back to the room where Lizette was being kept. He almost cried when he saw his little girl hooked up to various machines and looking so small and overwhelmed in the hospital bed. The doctor did his thing (A/N: I have no idea what this would be) and Roger went over to clasp Lizette's tiny hand in his larger calloused one. Dr. Wilson put something into the IV that was going into Lizette's arm and her eyelids fluttered and opened.

Roger breathed a sigh of relief as the young girl looked at him and smiled. "Hi Daddy." She whispered.

"Hey Lizzie." The musician said back. Tears streamed down his face as he stared into the aqua eyes of the child he had almost lost. "I'm so glad you're awake."

The girl bobbed her head happily. "Me too. Where's Mark and Danni?" she asked. "And everyone else? Where are they?" she looked around. "Where am I?"

"You gave us a scare baby." Roger answered. "We had to bring you to the hospital to make sure you were okay. Danni, Mark and the others are all outside waiting to see you." The tears were falling faster before Roger even realized he'd started to cry.

"Why are you crying Daddy?" Lizette inquired curiously. She reached up and touched her father's wet face.

"I thought-" his voice broke. "I thought I was going to lose you Lizzie. I'm just so glad you're okay."

"Of course I am." The girl replied with a giggle.

A/N: Okay so this is going to be the last update for a while because I am officially on Winter Break and I am going home! There's no Internet at my house so that means no updates. But, I will be writing like crazy while I'm at home so I'll have a bunch of new chapters in the New Year. Hopefully some of my other stories will updated as well! Happy Holidays everyone!


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter 11

Roger was upset and Maureen and Kirsten were in charge of making sure he didn't do anything stupid in the hospital. The musician wanted to take Lizette home right then and there but the doctor had other plans.

"Mr. Davis, we have to make sure that she stays okay. There are still too many unknown factors in her sickness for us to release her this early." Dr. Wilson had reasoned.

All the others, including Collins and Angel who had shown up quickly once they knew Liz was awake, agreed that the doctor was right. Roger knew he was right too, but that didn't mean he had to be graceful about it.

Mark, Collins, Angel, Joanne, and Danni had gone off in search of caffeine and snacks leaving Roger to the diva and Mark's girlfriend.

"Couldn't we just-" Roger tried for what had to be the twentieth time.

"No Roger, we couldn't." Maureen snapped.

"We could just do what the doctor says." Kirsten added. "Seems simpler that way."

"Yeah but I could-"

Maureen was reaching her wits end, which was saying something. "No Roger!" she exclaimed, startling the handful of people in the waiting room. "You couldn't." He sighed and hung his head finally admitting defeat. He knew that everyone was right and that the best thing to do was to listen to the doctor and to his friends. That was the best thing for Lizette.

Kirsten patted him on the arm and smiled. "Don't worry Rog. She'll be okay. She's got some of you in her and you're stubborn. Liz'll be okay."

"Thanks Kir." The musician said and leaned his head on her shoulder. Dr. Wilson came out a minute later and Roger jumped up. "So?" he asked.

"Lizette is doing better and we've tested her for just about everything that we could think of and then some. Aside from being HIV positive, she seems fine. I believe you can take her home in a few minutes." Dr. Wilson told him. "But she'll need to be brought in periodically, maybe once a week, to ensure that she doesn't relapse. I don't think her small body can survive many more."

"I'm not sure I can afford…" Roger trailed off. This was his daughter and he couldn't even make sure she got the care she needed. He really needed to think about getting a job.

Dr. Wilson nodded sadly. "I know your situation. Look Mr. Davis, I hate seeing this happen and especially to children and I know it's happened more times to you than you want to count." He paused. "I'd like to call this a case study. Lizette's treatments will be free because I'll write this entire thing up as a paper to help other doctors."

"So she can get the help she needs without me having to knock over a bank?" Roger mused.

"Yes." Replied the doctor hiding a smile. "I'll need you to sign a few forms but that's essentially how it works."

"Thank you doctor." Roger said sincerely.

"It's really my pleasure. I'll go get Lizette ready to be discharged." The two men shook hands and parted. Roger walked back over to the waiting area where his friends and Danni had congregated. He quickly explained what was going on and they all waited anxiously for Lizette to be released.

A nurse came out with her moments later and Roger and Danni broke into nearly identical grins. They went to hug the girl and then moved aside to let the other Bohemians do the same. An hour later, Mark, Roger, Danni, and Lizette were home.

Mark let them into the loft and Danni took Lizette to their room to get her dressed in non-hospital clothes. Roger's beeper went off and Mark gave him a look, he opened his mouth but Roger was way ahead of him.

"I know Mark." He said. He walked into the kitchen to take his pill and noticed that the message light was blinking on the answering machine. "Hey see what that is will ya?" he said.

Mark nodded and went over to the machine. He hit the play button and a young man's voice filled the loft. "Roger? Rog are you there? Fuck man pick up if you're there. Fine, okay shit! Look Rog this is Adam, shit. Dad, Dad kicked me out, said all that shit about me being too old to stay at home with him. So he kicked me out. Then I met this girl and we got into trouble. We're in Alphabet City now Roger, I'm not sure exactly where but there's sound equipment around and some homeless people with shopping carts. Look dude, if you know where that is please come get us cause I have no fucking clue what to do here."

Mark and Roger exchanged a look. "Was that your brother?" the filmmaker asked his friend.

"I think so." Roger replied. "He must be at the lot. I've got to go get him." He sighed and looked at his daughters' room. "Just when I thought the day couldn't get any more interesting." He put on his leather jacket and headed out the door.

Danni emerged from her room as he closed the door. "Was that Dad?" she asked Mark.

"Yeah, he had to go…get something." He answered. Danni rolled her eyes and retreated.

Meanwhile Roger had made it to the Eleventh Street lot where Maureen performed. He looked around swearing under his breath. It had been over a decade since he'd seen his little brother and he had no clue what to look for. Suddenly he heard his name being hissed from a corner.

He turned around and saw his brother Adam. The kid had to be at least twenty by now and he looked more like Roger than he ever had before. Their hair was the same color and texture though Adam's was longer and pulled back into a low ponytail. He was the same height and they were even dressed similarly. What set them apart were their eyes. Roger's were a brilliant green and Adam's were more hazel, like their mother's.

"Wow." Roger said softly. "It's good to see you Adam."

"Can we do the pleasantries when we're not standing in a dump heap surrounded by homeless people?" Adam retorted.

Roger laughed. "Please kid. I've spent a few years coming here. There's nothing to worry about from these people." He looked around. "I thought you said there was a girl with you."

"Fuck!" Adam swore. He moved back over to the corner and pulled on a lump of blankets. "Micah come on. We can get out of here." A head appeared out of the blankets and a body emerged after it.

Adam took the girl's hand and led her back to where Roger was standing. "Micah this is my older brother Roger. He'll look after us."

"Will he?" the girl, Micah, asked in a slightly British accent. She was a pretty girl under the grime of the streets. She was about six inches shorter than Roger and Adam with long, thick, black hair. Her eyes were a startling shade of amber that contrasted nicely with her mocha colored skin.

"Yeah, I guess I will. I can't just have my brother slumming on the streets and you're with him so…" Roger trailed off. "Alright let's go. Mark's probably worried as it is and I'll bet money that Danni will be pissed that I left."

"Then let's get the fuck out of here." Adam agreed.


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter 12

Roger walked up the stairs to the loft flanked by his brother and the Micah girl. Adam was telling him about how their father had kicked him out a week ago.

"So he got drunk and was like, 'Adam, I am so fucking sick of you mooching off of me. Get a job or get the fuck out.'"

"You didn't have a job?" Roger asked.

"That's the messed up part." Adam told him. "I had three. I was the only one paying bills in that house. Nicole sent something every now and then, but I was the one who was working."

"So why didn't you just tell him to stuff it?"

"Because I was sick of working my ass to the bone so he could buy booze that's why. I figured _you_ had to at least be doing better than Dad. I mean I assumed you were since you stopped calling and writing ten years ago." Adam said.

Roger flushed. "Look kid, I'm sorry…"

His brother waved the apology away. "I understand completely. It's Nicole that's pissed though." Adam said of their older sister. "She thinks you're dead you know."

Roger swore and opened the door of the loft. Danni was on the couch playing a hand game with Lizette and Mark was in the kitchen making coffee. "Well this is it." The musician said to Adam and Micah who had been silent the whole way back to the building. They both followed him inside and all eyes were on them. "Hey guys I'd like you to meet my little brother Adam and his friend Micah. That's Mark," he pointed to his best friend. "You remember Mark right Adam?"

Adam smiled. "Yeah. Wow, you guys are still friends? That's incredible."

"Tell me about it." Mark said. "I should have dumped his butt off somewhere years ago. It's good to see you again Adam."

"Okay, okay." Roger said bringing focus back to him. "These are my daughters." He indicated the girls on the couch. "Danielle and Lizette." At his brother's blank look Roger gave him a quick overview of the events that had taken place since he'd left home.

"Rog, you don't do things small do you?" Adam wanted to know.

"Yeah, because I planned all this you know." Roger retorted.

"They can't stay here you know Dad." Danni spoke up. She gave her father a look. "I'm not being snotty, but we barely have room for the four of us unless you and Mark want to start shacking up."

"Cool it Danielle." Roger scolded. But she had a point. "I guess they can stay downstairs in Mimi's old place."

"Um bro, I don't think either of us are in any position to have our own place right now." Adam said.

"Oh don't worry about that." Mark said. "We don't pay rent. It's one of the benefits of knowing and threatening to kill the landlord."

"Well then I guess we'd be stupid to refuse." The younger Davis sibling said. "Micah does Roger's plan sound okay?"

The young woman was staring at Roger. "I just want a shower and a change of clothes." She said in her accent.

"All that is downstairs." Mark told her. "I'll take you down." He glanced at Roger. The rocker hadn't been down in Mimi's apartment since the night she died. "Roger needs to look after his girls."

"Thanks Mark." Roger said gratefully and sank onto the couch with his kids. It had already been a long day and it was just two in the afternoon. Lizette climbed onto her father's lap and hugged him.

"You look tired Daddy." She said.

"I _am _tired baby." Roger told her. "You guys are new to me and now I have to make sure my brother is okay too. Danni, bring me the phone please?"

The elder girl complied as the younger one cocked her head at her dad. "Does that mean that he's our uncle?" she inquired.

"Yeah I guess he is." Roger said. "Look at that, you've got family everywhere."

"He didn't look very stable to me." Danielle said and handed Roger the phone.

"You try living with your grandfather for an extended period of time. You'd be pretty unbalanced too Danni."

"Who are you calling Daddy?" Lizette wanted to know.

"My older sister, your Aunt Nicole."

"How long has it been since you've talked to _her_?" Danni quipped.

"A while." Roger answer and dialed. "Now shush." The phone rang five times and he was about to hang up when he heard someone say "Hello?" on the other line.

Roger cleared his throat. "Um, could, could I speak to Nicole please?" he asked politely.

"This is she."

He was at a loss for words. He hadn't talked to his sister in about fifteen years. She was two and a half years older than him and sixteen years older than twenty two year old Adam. "Hey Nicole, it's Roger." He finally eeked out.

"Roger." Nicole said, her voice flat. "So you're not dead."

"No. Not quite yet." Roger answered. "How are you?"

"That's not why you called." Nicole had always been blunt. "You don't call someone after fifteen years and ask how they are. What's happened?"

"Well, Dad threw Adam out."

"Shit." Nicole swore. "That bastard. I knew he was going to do something stupid eventually. Do you have any idea where Adam is now?"

"Yeah he's here with me. Well not _here, _but he's in my building." Roger said. "He left me a message and I went and got him and Micah."

"Who's Micah?" Nicole wanted to know.

"This girl that he met somewhere between Scarsdale and here."

"Where's here Roger?" his sister wanted to know. "Mom said that you were in New York still right before she died. Then you didn't come to the funeral. So where are you now little brother?"

Roger was sad all of a sudden. He remembered when his mother had died. It had been a few weeks after Mimi had her first brush with death.

He was sitting on the couch stroking the sleeping Mimi's head and humming under his breath. The phone rang shrilly and Roger hoped it wouldn't wake his girlfriend up. She needed all the rest she could get.

"SPEEEEEEEAAAK!" went the answering machine. There was a click and then Roger recognized his sister's voice on the machine. "Roger? Hey it's Nicole. Look, I don't know where you are or even if you still live at this address or have this phone number, but it's all we have. Roger, Mom died last night. She was in a car accident and she didn't make it. The funeral is in three days. You-you should come. Adam wants to see you. He's really messed up right now Roger. Just…come home if you can Rog."

He came back to the present to hear Nicole saying his name. "Yeah, I'm here." He replied.

"So, are you going to answer my question or what?"

Roger sighed. "I'm where I've always been Nicole. Same address, same phone number, same shitty quality of life."

Lizette squealed. "Ooh Daddy said a bad word."

"And he talks about me." Danielle said with a smirk.

"Are—are those kids in the background Roger?" Nicole asked.

"Yes." Her brother answered sheepishly.

"Do you have kids? Roger Davis did you go and get married and start a family without telling anybody?" Nicole shouted.

"Not exactly." Roger heaved a breath and covered the mouthpiece of the phone with his hand. "Could you two go into your room please?" he asked the girls. Danni gave him a look but took Lizette's hand and led her out of the main room. "I'm not married but yeah, I have kids." Roger told his sister. "By two different women."

"Tell me." Nicole said.

Roger chuckled. "Do you have an hour?" he asked her.

"For you I do." She replied. "Tell me what's been going on with you Roger."

For the next hour and a half Roger pored his soul out to his older sister. He left nothing out. Not the drugs, or April killing herself, or the kids, or Mimi's death. He told her everything. Mark came back halfway through, took one look at his friend crying on the couch and talking on the phone, and promptly left again.

Once he was done with his story, Roger sighed in relief. It felt so good to get all of that off his chest. Nicole had cried with him and when Roger was done she sniffed. "Alright, I'll be there soon."

"What?" Roger asked taken aback. "Don't you have a family to look after or something?"

Nicole laughed harshly. "Please Roger, my husband and I got a divorce three years ago and we didn't have kids. I'm coming to see you. I'll be on a plane to New York tomorrow. Can you meet me at the airport?"

"Yeah, I guess." Roger said, dazed.

"Good, see you tomorrow." With that his sister hung up.


	13. Chapter 13

Chapter 13

Later that evening Roger was getting ready to put Lizette to bed when there was a knock on the door. He poked his head out of the girls' room in time to see Mark opening the door for Adam.

"Hey Adam." He greeted his little brother.

"Hey." The younger Davis came into the loft with a look of surprise on his face. "You know man, I never thought I would see you with a kid. It's pretty creepy."

Roger made a face at him. "It's not like I had a choice in the matter." He beckoned for Adam to follow him into his daughters' bedroom. "I called Nicole."

Adam's hazel eyes widened as he watched his older brother tuck in Lizette. "Nicole? Like our older sister Nicole? What made you do that?"

"I had to tell her about Dad kicking you out."

"The first time you talk to our sister in years and it's about me being a failure. Gee thanks Rog."

"That's not all we talked about." Roger assured him. "There was a lot in there about me being a failure. Trust me. Anyway, she's coming tomorrow."

"Damn." Adam said passionately. "This will be quite the family reunion." The two brothers came into the main room of the loft and sat down on the couch. "So are you mad at me?" Adam asked after a while.

Roger started. "Why would I be mad at you?"

"I don't know. I mean I fucked up and you had to come find me. Not only me, but me and some girl that I found. I can only imagine the plethora of things you could be doing."

"Yeah not a long list kid." Roger said. "I'd either be pretending to write a song, being berated by my oldest daughter, or worrying about my youngest." He shrugged and leaned his head back against the couch. "Looking out for you is a nice break." They were silent for a moment then, "Where did you find that Micah girl anyway?"

"Halfway between here and Scarsdale." Adam replied. "I was about to get on the subway when I saw her being pushed around by some guy. Rog, I think she used to be a prostitute."

"Why do you think that?"

"The guy, he was like her pimp or something. He was yelling about his share of the money and how he didn't care if she paid her rent or not. She slapped him good across the face and I pulled her on the subway with me. Once I assured her that I wasn't going to hurt her, we traveled together."

The door to the loft opened suddenly admitting Kirsten into the room. "Hey Kir." Roger greeted her. "You look great." And she did. Her hair was curled softly around her face and she was wearing a short black dress with fishnet stockings and calf high boots.

"Thanks Roger." She smiled at her friend and then caught sight of his brother. "Who's your doppelganger?"

"This is my little brother Adam." Roger introduced. "Adam this is Mark's girlfriend Kirsten."

"It's nice to meet you." Kirsten replied.

"And you." Said Adam. "Since when does Mark get girls this hot?"

"Since my sex god of a roommate got saddled with two kids." Mark answered as he emerged from his room. "Come on Kirsten. Let's go." He offered her his arm and she took it with a smile. "See you later Rog."

Once they were gone Roger shook his head and Adam stared at him. "Don't you go on dates anymore?"

Roger shrugged. "Once you've lost two girlfriends and gained two daughters, dating is not up on the priorities list." He sighed and stood up. "Do me a favor? Listen out for Lizette. Danni's spending the night with Collins and Angel and sometimes Lizzie gets lonely."

"Yeah sure. Where are you going?"

"Up to the roof. I need to think." Roger replied and headed out. He climbed the stairs that led up to the roof only to hear someone, a woman, singing softly. He pushed the door open slowly and there was Micah, sitting on one of the chairs that he, Mark, and Collins had put up there years ago. Her voice was light and soaring, singing a song that was both happy and filled with heartbreak.

"If I cannot fly, let me sing." Micah sang the final line and the last note drifted calmly on the bitter winter wind. "You can come out you know." The young woman said to Roger. "It's more your roof than mine."

The musician came further onto the roof and took a seat across from hers. "That was beautiful." He said. "Are you classically trained?"

Micah laughed bitterly. "Mr. Davis I started singing to block out the sound of people moaning as I screwed them for money. I'm sure Adam told you what he saw when he saved me."

"Sometimes the most beautiful music is brought from tragedy." Roger told her. "I tried for years to write a decent song but it took me nearly losing my girlfriend Mimi to AIDS to make it come together."

"I wouldn't call nearly losing her a tragedy Mr. Davis."

Now it was Roger's turn to be bitter. "Oh she died. Not right then, but Mimi died. Now all I have left is the anticipation of when I'll die and leave my daughters to the mercy of my friends." He sighed sharply. "And stop calling me Mr. Davis. It makes me feel old."

"I'm sorry _Roger_." Micah retorted in her accented voice. "Did this Mimi give you AIDS?"

"Not Mimi." Roger responded. "My girlfriend before Mimi…she was…we were junkies. And not very good ones. Long story short, she killed herself in my bathroom and left me a note that said 'we've got AIDS'."

"My God, I'm so sorry." Micah gasped.

"Eh, don't worry about it." Roger told her. "That was a long time ago and I've accepted it."

"I wish I could." Micah whispered.

"You?"

She nodded. "Me. I found out I was positive right before I tried to run away from my pimp."

"Maybe you should have told him." Roger mused.

"No. He would've killed me. It's better this way." She looked out over the city. "At least, as better as it can be."

Roger reached out and gripped her chin, forcing her to look at him. "It'll be better. Being here, it makes you forget that you've screwed up. Look at it this way, you already know my brother, but in addition I've got seven great friends, two kids, and my sister who I haven't seen in about twenty years will be here tomorrow. In all the chaos that we can provide in Alphabet City, you'll feel better in no time."

"Do you really believe that?"

Roger shrugged. "Sure. I mean either you'll get better on your own or my best friend Mark will hound you until you do."

Micah smiled at that and it was the first time Roger had seen it. It stunned him. Just be smiling all the sadness drained away from her face and her eyes lit up. She was beautiful. The two of them spent the next few hours up on the roof talking. Roger discovered that Micah was twenty-five, that she had been a prostitute since she was seventeen, she was born in Oxford, England but came to America when she was twelve with her cousin when her parents went through a messy divorce.

About three hours into their talk Roger started. "We've been sitting in the cold for a really long time. That cannot be good for us."

"No I suppose it isn't." Micah agreed. "Shall we go in?"

Yeah. You wanna come down to the loft and eat something? I don't think there's anything left in Mimi's old place."

"Do you have actual food in this building?"

Roger laughed. "My daughter Danielle makes sure that I actually get real food now."

"Then yes," Micah agreed. "I'd love to come."

They headed back down the stairs and to the loft. Roger pulled the door open and made a mock bow. "After you milady." He said.

Micah giggled. "Your accent is atrocious." She patted him on the cheek and entered the loft. Adam was asleep on he couch; curled up and looking so much like Roger. Micah said as much and Roger chuckled.

"Yeah he has some of my good looks I guess." He walked over to Lizette's bedroom door and looked inside at his sleeping six year old.

"She definitely has your good looks." Micah whispered as she gazed at the girl.


	14. Chapter 14

Chapter 14

The next morning Roger called Joanne and asked if he could borrow her car. "I have to pick up my sister from the airport." He explained. The thing that Roger loved about Joanne was that she didn't ask questions. She just agreed.

"I'll have Maureen drop it by the loft when she goes over to the lot today." The lawyer said. Roger thanked her and hung up as the door opened to admit Collins and Danni who were arguing animatedly and Angel who came in behind them looking perplexed.

"They've been going like this for the past three hours." She informed Roger.

The musician sighed. "I'm sorry to say it Angel, but better you than me." Apparently Collins won whatever the argument was about because he laughed in triumph and ruffled Danni's hair.

"Better luck next time kid." He said. "But you learn quick."

Danni stuck her tongue out at the professor and went to give her father a hug. It was the last thing Roger was expecting, but he quickly returned the gesture. "Where's Lizzie?" the teenager asked still in Roger's arms.

Roger pointed to the bathroom. "She decided that she wanted 'New Uncle Adam' to give her a bath this morning."

"Adam?" Collins asked. "Like your brother Adam?"

"I didn't know Roger had a brother." Angel said.

"Yep. He's twenty two." Roger told her. "My sister Nicole is thirty-eight and she'll be here today."

"It's a Davis family reunion!" Collins joked. There was a light tap on the door and the professor quirked an eyebrow. "Who knocks?" he wanted to know.

Roger smiled. "Micah." He intoned and went to open the door. Micah _was_ on the other side. She had brushed her hair up into a ponytail and was wearing some old clothes of Mimi's. She smiled when she saw Roger.

"Hey, is it alright for me to be here now?" she asked. "Adam left already and…"

Roger cut her off by pulling her inside. "Come meet people." He said. "Guys this is Micah. She came in with my brother and they're both staying down in Mimi's old place. Micah this is Collins, Angel, and my daughter Danni who you saw yesterday."

Angel skipped over to the girl and gave her a hug. "Welcome chica." She gushed. "I love your accent and you look great in that shirt."

Micah flushed. "Thank you. It's just something that I found downstairs. I guess it belonged to Mimi?"

"Yep and I made it for her." Angel sang.

"Modest baby." Collins chuckled. "So where are you from Micah?"

"Oxford, England originally." The young woman answered. "I've lived all over this city though since I moved to the States."

"That's so cool." Danni practically gushed. "Why don't we ever go anywhere Daddy?"

Roger stared at his daughter. "Okay who are you and what the hell have you done with Danni?" he turned to look at Collins and Angel. "What did you _do_ to her?"

Angel laughed. "Nothing it was that boy, what was his name Tommy?"

"Tobias I believe." The professor said with a wink at Danni. "He came by the house last night and the two of them talked for hours. When he left, Danni was like this. Quite an improvement wouldn't you say?"

"Hey!" Danielle protested.

Roger laughed. "He has a point. This new, less angsty, Danielle is amazing."

The girl hit her father on the arm. "Shut up. What are we doing today?"

"I have to get your Aunt Nicole from the airport and then I was thinking lunch at the Life or something. That sound good?" they all agreed that it was a good plan and went their separate ways for the day.

A few hours later the phone in the loft rang shrilly. Danni was sitting on the couch staring at her father and his brother. It was unnerving to the teenager to see this man who looked so much like Roger. She never expected to have so much family.

The two brothers were talking about old times and laughing when the phone rang. "SPEEEEEAAAK!" went the answering machine. Nicole's voice came on. "Roger I'm at the airport right now. I'm taking a cab to the closest hotel, a Holiday Inn I think. Pick me up from there in about twenty minutes Roger."

Adam snickered. "Same old Nicole."

"Seems like it." Roger replied. He stood up and stretched. "Danni, wake Lizzie up for me. You two can stay here while we go get Nicole."

Danni rolled her eyes and left the room. Adam chuckled again. "You know Rog, your kid is so much like you. It's almost creepy."

"Shut up." Roger retorted. There was a light tap on the door. "Come on in." Roger called. Micah slid the door open and stepped in. "Hey Micah."

"Hi." The young woman said. "I thought I'd come with you to get your sister. If that's okay with you."

"It's fine." Roger said quickly. "We'll leave in about ten minutes. Have you seen Mark? The dork with the glasses?"

Micah smiled. "I know who Mark is. He was outside filming last I saw. Should I go get him?"

"Nah, I've got it." Roger responded. He walked to the window and climbed onto the fire escape. "Mark!" he shouted. "We're getting ready to go!"

The filmmaker appeared around the corner. "Christ Rog. I think there's a few people in Queens who didn't hear you."

"Just hurry the fuck up!" Roger shouted back. "We gotta go!"

Mark rolled his eyes and hurried around to the front of the building where the car was parked. He was sure that Roger had to be nervous about seeing his sister again after all these years.


End file.
